Banana Yoshimoto's novels of young life in Japan have made her an international
sensation. Goodbye Tsugumi, called a "witty, perceptive novel" by Elle, is an
offbeat story of a deep and complicated friendship between two female cousins
that ranks among her best work. Maria is the only daughter of an unmarried
woman. She has grown up at the seaside alongside her cousin Tsugumi, a lifelong
invalid, charismatic, spoiled, and occasionally cruel. Now Maria's father is
finally able to bring Maria and her mother to Tokyo, ushering Maria into a world
of university, impending adulthood, and a "normal" family. When Tsugumi invites
maria to spend a last summer